Finding Shepard
by Rukia1000
Summary: Since the actual ending of the game was lame. I've decided to continue the story of my Shepard. She killed off technology and romanced Garrus. In this story, there will be two POV: Garrus and Shepard.
1. Chapter 1

**Garrus**

He couldn't find her. He couldn't find Shepard. Sure, they did land safely, well as safe as one could get as all of the technology was failing. Garrus just couldn't find her. It had been days since they had crashed in the tropical part of Earth, he knew that he probably wouldn't find her for a while. He just . . . couldn't imagine life without her.

At least, Garrus wasn't alone. He had Joker, who was mourning over the SR-2 Normandy . . . and EDI. Garrus didn't really understand why someone would want to be in love with an AU. Although, he did remember that Shepard encouraged the both of them to pursue it. He did ask her why she had even encouraged them. Neither of them would come out happy in the relationship. However, all she said was, "Sometimes love is strange, of course, you would know about that Garrus. You and I, well, we aren't the exactly the same species now are we?"

Of course, Garrus had no rebuttal to what she had just said. She was right. Everything she said had made complete sense. It was all because she had used her own dating habits as an analogy. It seemed as though Shepard would help clear up anything, and it would all make sense. If only she were here now. If only.

Except, there wasn't really enough time for him to worry about Shepard, he had to worry about surviving. Sure, there were provisions in the ship, but who knew how long those would last? It was best to start looking and hunting for food now, before their provisions empty out before their very eyes.

"We should go look for food." Garrus suggested, he looked over at Joker. The poor man wouldn't be able to keep up with him. The poor bastard had a limp that would never leave him. Grabbing his rifle and other guns, Garrus looked at Joker. It was as if the man knew that he would just slow the other down. So, off Garrus went to go look for any kind of sustenance.

* * *

Garrus had never really seen the beautiful parts of Earth. All he saw were bustling cities full of humans. This area was completely untouched, well, other than the SR-2 Normandy. As he heard rustling in the bushes, he crouched down and waited. As soon as the little creature showed itself, he shot it without hesitation. Picking it up, he noticed that it was small, furry, with big ears, and a little tail. Garrus had remembered some vids of a human dressed up as something like this. Except, this one wasn't white or pink. It was brown.

He would go hunt some more, however, the sun was setting and it would be safer to just head back to the crash site. Except, Garrus didn't leave right away. He sat down on the nearest rock and stared at the sunset. "Shepard, can you see this sunset?" Sure, it was sappy, but his gut kept on telling him that she was still alive. She was somewhere out there. He wouldn't accept that she was dead. Never. He will search all of Earth if he had to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Shepard**

Waves were crashing onto her. She didn't know where she was. She moved her arm slowly, and felt pain sear throughout her body. Shepard winced at it, all this time, she hadn't opened her eyes, as her eyes opened everything was just a blur. She couldn't remember the last time she saw the sun's radiant light. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed that she was on a beach.

Slowly, Shepard began to move, despite the pain that was screaming through her whole body. Once she was sitting up, she looked at her armor . . . or what was left of it. It seemed rather useless now, so she stripped out of the remnants of her N7 armor. Sure, she was in her underwear, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment. Except, Shepard couldn't bring herself to getting rid of her N7 armor. She set it against a rock and stared at it, "Garrus . . ." she whispered. Strange to think of her Turian lover while looking at her armor, but she couldn't just help think about what he's doing. If he's still alive, if he's here on this same island, or if he's close by. So, many thoughts raced through her head about him. How he was awkward about dating, shooting cans on the Citadel.

There was a stick nearby, she grabbed it and wrote her Turian lover's name in the sand, right near her N7 armor. She wanted to let him know that she was alive, that she made it out okay. That everything was going to be okay. She knew that she couldn't stay too close to the shore, so she decided to explore the beach that she was on.

A little ways, she found a nice cave. "Well that's convenient." Shepard said. She walked into it and noticed that there was no creature living in here, so she decided to take up residence in this cave. Sure, it was cold in there, but the cave would protect her from the elements.

As Shepard sat in the cave, she kept her knees close to her torso and hugged them, just to try to stay warm. She could hear the waves from the cave, and it echoed throughout it. With a sigh, she rested her head on her knees, wondering if she would ever get to see Garrus again, if she would ever get to see any of her comrades again. "Tali . . ." she couldn't help but think of the Quarian as she was back on her home planet, with a house. Shepard would never get to see it in her lifetime, all technology was lost, and the two of them would never get to see each other again. At least Shepard helped the Quarians by helping them get back their home planet.

She buried her face further into her knees and whispered, "Garrus . . ." she again realized that he would never find out if his father and sister were alive, he would never get to see them again, he would never be able to introduce her to his family. The guilt began to weigh deeply on Shepard. She made a poor choice, but the with the other one, she would have ended up dead. She didn't want to put Garrus through the pain of never finding her. Her mission was to destroy the Reapers, and that's what she did.

Even though she didn't do much in the day, she began to drift away into a slumber using her knees as a pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Garrus**

The day started, and once again the two survivors had to figure out what needed to be done. Garrus looked over at Joker, the poor man had just lost everything that ever really mattered. Garrus smirked and murmured, "Maybe I'm like the poor bastard. Losing someone so close to you. Hurts like hell." It was true, losing her wasn't easy, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy. What hurt the most was not knowing whether or not Shepard was out there, alive. He wondered if she was alright, or if she was in critical condition.

Hell, Garrus even remembered when the first Normandy exploded. He thought that he lost her. The one person who looked helped him; they trained each other mentally and physically. As he saw her coming to that cornered building when he was Archangel, he wasn't sure who it was at first. He thought it was some hopeless merc who had signed up to die. It wasn't until the female figure got closer when he realized that the N7 was on her armor. At that time, he felt is heart skip a few beats, as cheesy and cliché as that sounds. That's what happened.

Looking back at Joker, Garrus said, "I'm gonna go towards the beach and see if there's anything that I can find that's edible for the both of us." and he walked off without looking back. There was no need to even try to invite Joker to come with considering his bad leg and all.

* * *

As he walked in silence, he thought he saw something propped up that looked like armor, except he just took a little glance at it and quickly looked away. "Damn, must be hallucinating." He continued to walk towards the beach, hoping to catch some sort of fish. However, he didn't even to think to look at the ground, where the armor laid. Behind him was a trail of Turian footprints that walked over a name written in the sand. His name.

Garrus stood in the waves, feeling the cold water against his worn down armor. It never occurred to him that he wouldn't need it anymore; he always needed the armor when he was with Shepard and her crew. It felt like second nature to continue to wear it. With his hand, he tugged at the armor, and decided that fishing should take the top priority.

Surprisingly, Garrus had caught a lot of fish with the time that he had. Although he decided that he should stop, he was worried that Joker would do something stupid. As he walked back, he saw that the crippled man was starting to set up a fire. With a smile Garrus praised the man, "Good. You've started a fire," the Turian set down the fish on one of the blankets that was set out. Joker must have taken a nap while he was away. The alien looked away and cleared his throat suddenly, "I don't know how to really cook this stuff campfire style . . ." he could hear the pilot's laugh, except he heard another laugh along with it. The voice was feminine, Garrus quickly looked around the camp, looking for her bright face with her short brunette hair. Except Shepard was nowhere to be found. His heart sank, and the pilot seemed worried.

"Hey, Garrus, are you alright?" Joker asked.

The Turian looked over at Joker and nodded, "Yeah, everything is fine. Just start to cook the food. I thought I heard someone else—that's all." He knew that he should tell Joker, that's what made a team . . . right? Although he did look at Joker's face, and he saw the sadness in the human's eye. Garrus wasn't the only one who was missing Shepard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Shepard**

It was a hard night's sleep. It didn't feel like it, but her body felt worse than it did the night before. With a sigh, Shepard forced her body to move even though it screamed at her every inch she moved. As she walked out of the cave, she felt the warm sand between her toes. She couldn't help but bunch her toes together and catch the sand between her toes. Although, all it did was bring sadness. She remembered that she and Garrus were supposed to retire someplace warm with adopted children. It hurt to just think about it. All she could hope for was that her love survived.

Shepard walked and walked the beach, looking for food. She was too weak to even think about fishing. She felt defeated even though she was the one who defeated the reapers. She felt that she wasn't needed anymore. _"Your duty is done. You saved civilization. It's time to rest."_ Somewhere in her thoughts, her body kept on repeating that her duty was done. It was time to close her eyes. Except, that meant death, and Shepard wasn't ready to die. Not yet.

No matter how hard the commander tried to move, her body would refuse. Suddenly, she felt her body collapse into the sand. Her own body telling her to stop even trying, she had technically already beaten death once thanks to Cerberus. Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. She wasn't ready to die yet, back then, it was different she had no other choice than suffocate to death. She refused to go to that bar in Heaven. Not yet at least.

The tide began to rise and she could feel it soak her underwear. There was no way she would be able to wear these. She could get sick, except her body didn't want to move. It just wanted to lie there and be swept away by the tied. Grabbing a fistful of sand, Shepard knew that this wasn't the person she was. She never quit; she came back from a suicide mission with _everyone_. Slowly, she began to crawl, dragging herself by her arms even when her muscled screamed at her to stop. There was no way she was going to stop now. Not when there were people who wondered if she lived.

Shepard crawled and crawled until eventually her muscles ran out of oxygen and her body betrayed her. She was at a spot where she had written Garrus' name in the sand. Her eyes fluttered, her body was going into shock from the pain. Her mind drifting in and out of consciousness, between these waves, she noticed indentations in the sand. She couldn't make out what the shapes were exactly, but she knew that she didn't make those. Someone else was here, and she hoped that they would find her. Her eyes closed on their own and everything became dark and she couldn't hear or feel anything anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Garrus**

Again, another day in this area, and still there was no Shepard. Again, the same daily routines, nothing was exciting anymore. There was no "saving the universe" mission anymore. Shepard wasn't here anymore. No, Garrus couldn't think like that. She was out there somewhere, living, maybe even fighting for survival.

As the turian searched for food once again, trying the jungle looking for anything that at least Joker could eat other than fish. Of course, since this wasn't his home-planet, Garrus had no idea if they were poisonous or not. So, he walked past them and continued on towards the beach.

Again, the turian could see the armor. Except, this time there was a lump at the foot of it. Trying to focus his eyes, Garrus realized that it was a person, a human woman. Anxiety ran through the turian like a wild fire on a hot summer's day. He ran towards the body, taking note that the woman was face downward into the sand. She had the same short brown hair as his Shepard had. Gently, he flipped the body over, hoping to find those faint glowing orange-red scars of Shepard's on this woman's face. There they were. Right on her cheek, the only remnants of what the Lazarus Project, no, what Cerberus did. He was so happy, fighting back the tears, Garrus embraced Shepard's limp body, yet warm body.

The next thing Garrus had to do was to check for her life signs. Sure, her body was warm, except that wasn't enough for him. He could hear a faint heartbeat, and her breath gently as it exhaled and hit the remnants of his scar. Shepard was still alive, but barely. Looking towards the waves Garrus knew that food could wait, Shepard came first.

* * *

Arriving back at camp with his lover in his arms, Garrus noticed a sad attempt of crutches lying on the ground. It seems as though Joker tried to do something with what he could, at least with these at least the pain that he would feel would lessen. Except Joker was nowhere to be found. The turian walked into the remnants of the SR-2 Normandy shouting, "JOKER! I NEED MEDICINE, FOOD, AND WATER STAT!"

Gently, Garrus set down Shepard for only a moment to wipe off everything on a nearby table. He picked her back up and a set her gently on the table, opening up her airway, in case he would have to perform CPR. Joker appeared with everything that was asked for the male human said, "Holy shit, that's Shepard!" Garrus threw Joker a sarcastic look and tried to do anything he could for her . . . except he didn't really know what to do. If he had to do CPR, he was afraid that he would hurt her; she is a different organic being after all.

Looking back at Joker Garrus said, "I don't really know what to do . . ."

Joker chuckled to himself and said, "Neither do I. I'm a pilot not a doctor or a nurse. However, I do know some things about first aid . . ." Then, Joker began to do a little check-up on Shepard's body. With a sigh, the pilot said, "She's gonna get sick if- " Joker cleared out his throat and started to blush. The man couldn't finish his sentence.

"She's gonna get sick if . . ." Garrus repeated back at Joker.

Rubbing his head nervously Joker replied, "— if we don't take off her underwear."

Garrus sighed, and it was decided that he should be the one to do it, since the two were dating. Once Shepard lay naked on the table, still unconscious, the turian caressed her cheek. He didn't want to lose her.

"Is she . . . naked?" Joker asked, clearly asking if he could come back in.

"Yes, I'm putting a blanket over her to control her body temperature," he said.

Joker entered the room with what appeared to be an IV and bags of some sort of fluids. Garrus didn't ask any questions. As long as Shepard's body got the nutrients it needed to survive, that was all that mattered: the survival of Shepard.

"Maybe you should go occupy your time. Keep your mind busy." Joker suggested.

Garrus sighed, "Yeah, I think I'll do that." Looking back at Shepard who was now hooked to an IV, he walked out and walked through the forest until the sun set.


	6. Chapter 6

**Shepard**

Yes, she felt like she was flying. As if there were someone trying to wake her. Her body just didn't want to move anymore. It was as if her body was telling her that it was finally her time to die. Except there was a strange warmth seeping into her. It felt as though someone was clutching to her desperately, as if she were the last thing that they had to live for.

Gently, she could feel that she was on something hard. She wanted to shiver so badly. Her wet clothes still on her, she could hear talking, familiar voices. Shepard couldn't really figure out who they were in this state of mind. She could feel someone stripping her of her underwear. If only she could actually react to what was happening around her. If only she could. Luckily the person had put a nice warm blanket over her.

There was pain suddenly, in her arm. Except it wasn't as if she hadn't felt pain before. Then, she could feel something cold come into her body. If only Shepard could open up her eyes and see what was happening. To be able to understand why this was happening.

* * *

Slowly, Shepard's eyes opened up. Her surroundings where so familiar, "Well look who's awake," a chuckling voice said.

Her eyes went to where the voice was; it was Joker, sitting right next to her. "Joker? I don't understand . . ." Shepard began.

Again, Joker chuckled, "Well of course you wouldn't. You were unconscious when Garrus brought you back."

That name. Garrus Vakarian. Shepard choked back her tears. He was alive, Joker was alive, and maybe everything was going to be all right. They wouldn't have to meet at that bar in heaven now.

Shepard's eyes began to search everywhere for the turian. Except he wasn't there, Joker could see the panic in her eyes and comforted her, "I told him to come back later. He was way to nervous. He'll probably be back when the sun sets."

As Shepard heard that, it put her heart at ease. She was glad that some things were going to be okay. She decided to save her strength for when he returned back when the sun started to go down.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Garrus came back as the sun began to go down. As he walked in, he could hear the laugh of the girl he knew. The girl he missed. Gently, Garrus held her, as Shepard traced the faint traces of his scar.

"They're gone . . . the reapers are gone . . ." Shepard forced; her voice was a little hoarse through her tears. She still could not believe that she was alive.

Garrus began to hold Shepard tighter, "I know. You did well. We can all rest now," he said wiping away the tears that Shepard shed.

A weak smile showed on Shepard's face, her eyes fluttered, Garrus simply picked her up carefully and placed her head on his lap. Shepard once again fell asleep. Garrus looked at Joker and said, "I'm going to sleep here for tonight," Joker simply nodded and walked off.

* * *

The next day was a little better for Shepard. Her body still hurt, except when she woke up, she woke up to Garrus' sleeping face. It was a nice thing to wake up to. It always was. She didn't want to move, she didn't want to wake Garrus. She didn't know how much sleep he had gotten; she feared that he got too little. She thought he searched for her endlessly.

A couple of minutes later, Garrus' eyes opened. Shepard smiled at him, "Good morning. We've got a nice shelter, except I fear we may be running out of food."

A soft chuckle escaped the turian, "That is something you would say. I will go search for food. You continue to recover." he adjusted so that Shepard would still be comfortable, before he left, he gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I love you," he whispered.

Shepard whispered back, "I love you too,"


End file.
